At Ambiki, clinicians and developers across 11 time zones work together to improve therapists’ lives. We’re obsessed with therapy delivery. It drives the reason we come to work each day. I want to tell you a little bit about our WHY.
To do so, I want to take you on a little journey. The tale below is like the story that goes along with the recipe you find on the internet. If you don’t have time for a journey today, skip to the TLDR section at the bottom of this article.
Ambiki told from my perspective.
I began my career in technology in 1998. I was starting businesses that relied on high-speed internet when most of the country was using AOL. I enjoyed working in tech and solving problems never tackled on the web.
I loved it. Until I didn’t.
In 2012, I became the primary caregiver of a family member who had dementia, and I realized that everything I was doing on the web felt so silly.
In 2015, I decided to go to graduate school to become an SLP. I was initially torn between SLP and OT. (In fact, an OT who worked with my family member made me realize I wanted to make a change.)
My path toward becoming an SLP wasn’t easy. But I did it.
When I started at Sidekick Therapy Partners in 2019, I discovered the tech team was developing a documentation system to run the business. My second email was to the CEO to ask about the software and the future.
During my CF year, I found time (in my spare time) to collaborate with Kevin and Kurt, but I needed more time. I didn’t have extra time! I was a CFY! Those stolen moments never felt like enough time.
We formalized the relationship in March 2020. By this point, the team had expanded and had already worked on the EMR for 1.5 years. The team was interested in creating a teletherapy app to go alongside the EMR – but teletherapy wasn’t on the roadmap until much later (after a scheduling tool, notes tool, and many other tools were created).
Covid accelerated the timeline for the teletherapy app. Because Kevin lives in Japan, he saw schools shutting down long before we had a case in the US. He correctly predicted Covid would have a massive impact on the school year. In February, the tech team began working on the teletherapy app, putting other projects aside.
The tech team needed help, and I was able to help with the new teletherapy app because learning to do teletherapy was now a core part of my CF experience.
As the school year wrapped up, we decided I would join the tech team full-time. As I worked with the developers, I saw how committed they were to improve therapists’ lives by making the business processes that go into delivering therapy easier to deal with. They were obsessed with improving business processes and learning more about the therapy world.
I was the first therapist hired, but now many others are on the team (and we consult with other therapists daily). Together, we obsess over the most minor, teeniest, and tiniest details related to therapy and look for tangible ways to improve them. We spend a lot of time working with therapists to broaden our perspective and ensure we aren’t thinking too speechy, siloed, or too influenced by the platforms our customers use.
I’ve used my story as an introduction to the why, because it is my story and I feel comfortable writing about it. My story could easily be replaced with the story of any of our teammates.
- The clinician who just obtained her MBA.
- The developer who stuttered as a child.
- The clinician who has done both sales and speech her entire career.
- The developer who wants to use our tools to better his community.
- The clinician who mastered teletherapy long before Covid.
- Our founder who was frustrated he didn’t have the tools we are creating when he was an ESL teacher
- And dozens of other stories on our small, yet ambitious team.
We’ve experienced the restlessness that happens when things aren’t as good as you want them to be.
And that makes us obsessed about making your job better.
TLDR (too long, didn’t read)
The Ambiki Manifesto drives the work we do each day. This manifesto was created by the clinical team to express what drives us to our developer teammates (and you).
Creating it was an emotional process. (As is working on Ambiki, really.) We are all passionate about what we want to accomplish, and it is easy to get impatient about where we are when we have so much to do.
After all, we’re ambitious and we’re impatient. Just like you.
The Ambiki Manifesto
You’re a busy therapist. It’s a frantic race to get it all done.
You have so many things to do, so many ideas, but there is always so little time.
It’s okay to be restless. It’s what makes you great.
We’ll help you demonstrate your ideas.
Ambiki to the rescue.
Help is at your fingertips.
Get back your time. It’s okay to take a break, take a note, save it for later.
There is always time to make progress.
Just breathe.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Relax, we’ve got ahold of you.
You’ve got this!
We’re handing over knowledge to you.
The knowledge we’ve collected from others just like you.
We’ll share how we get to the finish line.
Take what you need with you. Change it. Mold it. Shape it.
Make it your idea, and make it happen.
There’s no better time to start than today.
Anything is possible!
Highlight your strength.
Strength in a solid foundation, a solid core, a solid vision!
Exercise for your mind, exercise plans for your clients.
Take a deep breath; breathe.
We’ve got you covered.
No idea is too ambitious.
Get it out!
You’re not alone. You’re on the right path. We are joining you on your journey. To help find the way forward.
Seeing and speaking clearly.
Helping you feel heard!
Celebrate your accomplishments.
We did it!
You’re the expert, show your patient.
In closing
The manifesto is so important to us that we refer to it when we start new projects. We revisit it when we talk about those projects with you. Our founder, Kevin Dias, has it on his office’s wall. We have used it in dozens of ways over the past 6 months.
We’ve been obsessing about these problems for over 4 years, but Ambiki is still new. We became our own company and officially launched in January 2022 with a fraction of what we would like to share with you. We still support the first version of Ambiki (Cue), and Ambiki is getting closer to our vision daily.
But let’s be honest. We’ll never be done. We’ll always be chasing what we *can do* once we __[insert interesting business problem here]___. That’s the nature of software development. And you, as a big dreamer, also know that.
We invite you to join us as we develop Ambiki. Help us make Ambiki what you’ve been dreaming about. We’re a small but ambitious team. We invite you to join us and to be ambitious, too. Your feedback and willingness to try new things will make us successful. Bookmark or download The Ambiki Manifesto for when you need a little inspiration.
We've got you.
